CONTRA COSTA COUNTY LIBRARY

Collection Development Policy for Federal Government Publications

Mission

The Contra Costa County Library has been designated as the Federal Depository Library for the Tenth Congressional District since 1964. As a designated selective federal depository, the Library's mission is to make government publications freely available for the use of the general public, and to meet the government information needs of the people who live and work in greater Contra Costa County. The Documents Unit fulfills this mission by supporting the general Library collection activities as well as the countywide reference activities of the Central Library.

Contra Costa County: Community Analysis

Contra Costa County, located in the San Francisco Bay Area, is home to more than 980,000 people and thousands of businesses. Strategically located near Oakland, San Francisco and Silicon Valley, it is California’s ninth most populous county and one of the State's fastest growing regions. Cities and communities include Alamo, Antioch, Bay Point, Bethel Island, Brentwood, Byron, Canyon, Clayton, Clyde, Concord, Crockett, Danville, Diablo, Discovery Bay, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Hercules, Kensington, Knightsen, Lafayette, Martinez (the County seat), Moraga, Oakley, Orinda, Pinole, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, Rodeo, San Pablo, San Ramon, and Walnut Creek.

Geography

Contra Costa County’s land area is 734 square miles. The San Francisco Bay borders Contra Costa on the west, the Carquinez Strait borders it on the north, the flatlands of the San Joaquin Delta lie on the east, and the San Ramon Valley lies in the south. The County is divided by two scenic ranges of hills and low mountains. Mount Diablo is the highest point in the Bay Area. Highways 4 and 24 connect the County’s interior communities with Oakland and San Francisco. The Bay Area Rapid Transit cuts diagonally through Contra Costa, connecting East County commuters with San Francisco’s Civic Center and Financial District. Interstate 680 connects the County with Sacramento via Interstate 80 on the north, and with the Tri-Valley and Silicon Valley communities on the south. The transportation infrastructure and the relative availability of land to develop has encouraged the influx of new residents, businesses and technology, turning Contra Costa from a suburban community to a major center of commerce and finance.

Population

As of January 1, 2002, the population of Contra Costa County was estimated at 981,600. In 2000, the County population was 948,816, a significant 18.5% increase from the 1990 Census, indicating 145,084 new County residents. From 1940 to 2000 the population of the County increased nine-fold. By 2020, the County population is expected to reach 1.1 million persons.

Age

As of Census 2000, 19.9% of the County population was enrolled in grade school (5.2% in kindergarten, 44.1% in elementary school, and 20.7% in middle and high school.). 62.1% of the County population was of working age (ages 18-64): ages 18-24, 7.7%; ages 25-44; 30.5%; ages 45-64, 23.9%. 11.3% of the population was over 65, and 1.4% was over 85 years of age. The median age was 36.4 years.

Ethnicity, Nativity and Language

In 2000, the population of Contra Costa County was 65.5% white, 11.0% Asian, 9.4% African American, 0.6 American Indian and Alaskan Native, 0.4% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and 8.1% Some Other Race. The Hispanic/Latino population of the county was 17.7%. 19.0% of the population is foreign born. Of the foreign born 41.1% came from Asia, 40.8% came from Latin America, and 12.1 came from Europe. Over 26% of County residents speak a language other than English at home, and of these, 50% are Spanish speaking. 11.5% of the population speak English less than “very well,” 88.5% speak English “very well.”

Education

Educational attainment in Contra Costa County is generally high. 86.9% have achieved a high school diploma or higher, 35.0% have achieved a bachelor's degree or higher, and 12.2% have graduate or professional degrees. 23% received a high school diploma, 24.4% completed some college classes, 7.7% achieved an associate degree, and 35.0% obtained a bachelor’s degree. Contra Costa County is home to three community colleges, Diablo Valley College and its satellite, the San Ramon Valley Center, Los Medanos College and its satellite, the Brentwood Center, and Contra Costa College. The County also has two private universities: Saint Mary’s College of Moraga and John F. Kennedy University, as well as a satellite campus of the California State University, Hayward.

Income/Employment/Occupation

Contra Costa County ranks as the third wealthiest county in the Bay Area. In 2000, the median family income in the County was $73,039, and the median household income was $63,675. Per capita income was $30,615. Income varies from city to city, with a low of $36,900 in San Pablo and a high of $165,100 in Alamo. The County has recorded a job growth rate of 2.7% since 1997. The unemployment rate is generally lower than the state average, and lower than that of neighboring counties. 41% of the population are in managerial and professional occupations, 28% are in technical/ sales/ administrative support, 11.8% are in service occupations, 8.9% are in construction, extraction and maintenance occupations, and 8.5% are in production, transportation and material moving occupations.

Commerce/Industry

Service industries currently make up the County’s largest industry segment (33% of employment), followed by retail (18%) and government (14%). In the near future, business services and health care are expected to predominate. Historically the western and northern parts of the County have been highly industrialized. Petroleum and chemical engineering, and the manufacturing of steel and paper products, currently make up 11% of Contra Costa’s economy.

Government

Contra Costa County has a general law form of government. The five-member Board of Supervisors serves as the County’s governing body. At state and federal levels, the County is represented by the 11th, 14th and 15th State Assembly Districts, the 7th and 9th State Senatorial Districts, and the 7th, 10th and11th Congressional Districts.

Contra Costa County Library

The County Library was established by the Education Code of the State of California. The Library consists of one central library, 19 branches, and three outlets. It expects to add additional branches within the next decade. The County Librarian is a Department Head within County government, accountable to the Board of Supervisors. The Library has 1.2 million volumes in its collection and serves over 3 million people annually. The physical depository collection is located at the Central Library in the City of Pleasant Hill. The Central Library is located next door to the County Office of Education, the Pleasant Hill Middle School, and the Pleasant Hill Adult Education Center.

Government Publications Collection Profile

The Documents Unit receives select publications from federal, state, county, and local agencies.

Depository holdings number 83,466+ items in all formats (FY 2001/2002). Federal documents comprise 65% of the collection. The depository selects 25-30% of the active items offered by the Government Printing Office. The federal depository collection is currently organized by Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc) classification number. Government publications in high demand are cataloged, representing 10% of the collection. Eventually the depository collection will be integrated into the regular collection, which is organized by the Dewey Decimal Classification. (See also “Access to Federal Government Publications.”)

Selection Responsibility

While legal responsibility for material selection rests with the County Librarian, the actual responsibility for selection of government documents and supporting materials is delegated to the Documents Specialist.

  • The Documents Specialist is a Library Specialist (Librarian II), and supports all County libraries under the direction of the Central Library Manager.
  • The Documents Specialist is a de facto member of the Collection Development Committee.
  • The Documents Specialist works with the Collection Planners, the Electronic Resources Committee, the Central Library reference staff and the Documents staff in actively recommending and evaluating commercial print and electronic resources for purchase to support the government publications collection. The Specialist does this by participating in round table meetings or communicating effectively by e-mail.
  • The Documents Specialist works with the Central Library Manager, the Deputy County Librarian for Public Services and the Deputy County Librarian for Support Services, in helping to identify priorities and resources that support the work of the depository.

Criteria for selection

The content and size of the depository collection has been largely guided by the "Suggested Core Collection" (Federal Depository Library Manual, Appendix A), and the Item Selection Rate Averages by Size and Type of Library (current is January 2002-Revised.). However the Library is also guided by the Collection Development Plan [draft], the Electronic Resources Collection Development Policy, and the branch collection profiles of the County Library. Item selections should reflect the general collection emphases of the Library, and fill the current, real or potential information needs of the local communities in formats that can be supported by the Library.

Collection Level

The Library’s existing and desired collection level can be described as basic, informational, and reference. The Library collects materials for a general, nonprofessional audience, and for all age levels. The Library places an emphasis on current reference, statistical, and popular materials over instructional or research materials. Because of the proximity of large research depositories, the Library does not seek to collect retrospectively.

Formats

The Library selects all formats distributed by the Government Printing Office: print, microforms, CD-ROM/DVD, online electronic resources, maps, posters, Braille, etc. The Library has traditionally emphasized print over other formats, for ease of staff and patron accessibility, and for permanence. The Library currently emphasizes the online electronic format to maximize both accessibility to government publications by County libraries and cost effectiveness in Library collection development. This follows the U.S. Government Printing Office’s policy to prefer online distribution of government publications. The Library may elect to substitute electronic formats for tangible formats for official FDLP Permanent Full-Text Databases, according to the FDLP Guidelines on Substituting Electronic for Tangible Versions of Depository Publications. The Library purchases microform copies of basic historical sets such as the Congressional Record and the Federal Register, as budget permits.

Selection and evaluation tools

Depository tools used in selection:

  • List of Classes of U. S. Government Publications Available for Selection by Depository Libraries
  • Federal Depository Library Manual, Appendix A, “Suggested Core Collection Annotated for Small to Medium Public and Academic Libraries and for All Law Libraries”
  • GPO Shipping Lists
  • Catalog of United States Government Publications(CGT)(online)
  • U.S. Government Online Bookstore (Sales Product Catalog)
  • New and Popular Titles (GP 3.17/5)
  • New Titles By Topic E-Mail Alert Service (GPO)
  • U.S. Government Subscriptions Catalog(online)
  • GPO Subject Bibliographies

Non-depository tools used in selection:

  • List of Classes of United States Government Publications Available for Selection by Depository Libraries (Duke University)
  • Documents Data Miner 2 (Wichita State University)
  • Catalog of U. S. Government Publications, 1976- present (MarciveWeb Docs)
  • Batten, Donna, ed., Guide to U.S. Government Publications (The Gale Group, 2000) [Andriot]
  • Publications recommended in government and depository listservs, e.g. Govdoc-L (Federal depository listserv), Caldoc-L (California depository listserv).
  • Book reviews, for example, Library Journal’s “Notable Government Documents,” and book reviews in Documents to the People,
  • Cited sources in articles and bibliographies.
  • Publishers’ fliers, e.g. Bernan releases.
  • Staff and patron requests and recommendations

Subject areas of major emphasis

The following broad subject areas are sizably represented in the Library collection. Agencies that issue publications on these subjects are listed with their corresponding Superintendent of Documents stems and qualifying notes.

  • Computer Science and Generalities (Dewey 000-009)

Note: While the general collection has a strong computer science emphasis, the Library does not select technical computer science publications beyond those that support the specific electronic government resources that it receives.

  • Bibliographies (Dewey 010-019): includesgeneral and specialized bibliography

Federal agencies selected may include, but are not limited to: the National Technical Information Service (C 51); the Environmental Protection Agency (EP), the Government Printing Office (GP), General Services Administration (GS); the Geological Survey (I 19); the Library of Congress (LC), and the Smithsonian Institution (SI). Types of publications selected: catalogs, bibliographies.

  • Library and Information Science (Dewey 020-029): includes, but is not limited to, depository management, Library science, library services, cataloging, and information policy.

Federal agencies include, but are not limited to: the Government Printing Office (GP); the Library of Congress (LC), including the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (LC 19), and the Subject Cataloging Division (LC 26); and the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (Y 3.L 61). Types of publications selected: Handbooks, directories, proceedings, posts, catalogs and bibliographies, posters, journals, flyers and brochures, statistical publications, and promotional materials.

  • Sociology (Dewey 300-309): Includes, but is not limited to, social groups, ethnic groups, cultures, social processes, intercultural communication, community development.

Federal agencies selected may include, but are not limited to: the Census Bureau (C 3), the Commission on Civil Rights (CR), and the Smithsonian Institution (SI). Types of publications selected: statistical publications, journals, flyers and brochures.

  • Statistics (Dewey 310-319): Includes general statistics of the United States, counties and metropolitan areas, California, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Federal agencies selected may include, but are not limited to: the Census Bureau (C 3), and the National Center for Health Statistics (HE 20.6200). Types of publications selected: statistical publications, periodicals, and reports.

  • Political Science (Dewey 320-329): Includes, but is not limited to, political systems, the political process, political parties, elections, campaign finance, immigration, migration, slavery and emancipation, international relations, the legislative process.

Federal agencies selected may include, but are not limited to: the Immigration and Naturalization Service (J 21), the President (PR), the Executive Office of the President (PREX), the Central Intelligence Agency (PREX 3), Congress (X and Y), and the Federal Election Commission (Y3.EL). Types of publications selected: statistical publications, periodicals, reports, monographs.

Economics (Dewey 330-339): Includes, but is not limited to, labor economics, price indexes, wages, banks and banking, monetary policy, personal finance, investment, real estate finance, mortgage lending, labor economics, energy economics, public finance, international economics, macroeconomics, economic systems, and production. Federal agencies selected may include, but are not limited to: National Agricultural Statistics Service (A 92), Bureau of the Census (C 3), Bureau of Economic Analysis (C 59), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (E 2), Federal Reserve (FR), Federal Housing Financing Board (FHF), the General Services Administration (GS); the Department of Labor (L), including the Bureau of Labor Statistics (L 2), the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (L 29), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (L 35), the Wage and Hour Division (L 36.200), the Office of Worker's Compensation Programs (L 36.400), and the Office of Unemployment Insurance (L 37.200); the Office of Management and Budget (PREX 2), the Economic Advisors Council (PREX 6); the Security and Exchange Commission (SE), Department of the Treasury (T), including the Internal Revenue Service (T 22), the Bureau of Public Debt (T 63.200), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (Y 3.F 31). Types of publications selected: statistical publications, periodicals, handbooks, manuals and guides.

  • Law (Dewey 340-349): includes, but is not limited to, legal documents: statutes, codes, regulations, judicial opinions; courts, copyright, intellectual property, censorship, taxation, industrial law, international law.

Federal agencies selected may include, but are not limited to: The Office of the Federal Register (AE), the Patent and Trademark Office (C 21); the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC); the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Judiciary (JU): including the United States Supreme Court (JU 6), the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts (JU 10), and the Tax Court (JU 11), Copyright Office (LC 3), Executive Office of the President (PREX), United States Treaties (S 9); the Securities and Exchange Commission (SE), the Internal Revenue Service (T 22), and Congress (X and Y). Types of publications selected: legal materials, statistical publications, directories, forms. Note: The Library has substituted the electronic format of Congressional bills for the print format. The Library does not select committee hearings. The Library has the resources of the County Law Library to draw upon, and so does not seek to develop more than a basic legal reference collection.

  • Public Administration and Military Science (Dewey 350-359): Includes, but is not limited to, the work of government, public contracts, civil service, military art and science, military history, weapon systems, weapons industry, civil defense, armed forces: land, sea, air.

Federal agencies selected may include, but are not limited to: the Department of Defense (D), including the Defense Intelligence Agency (D 5.200), Defense Mapping Agency (D 5.300), National Defense University (D 5.400), Defense Logistics Agency (D 7), National Guard (D 12), Department of the Army (D 101), Army Corps of Engineers (D 103), Military History Center (D 114), Department of the Navy (D 201), Office of Naval Operations (D 207), Bureau of Naval Military Personnel Command (D 208), Naval Education and Training Command (D 207.200), Naval Observatory (D 213), Marine Corps (D 214), Naval Historical Center (D 221), Department of the Air Force (D 301), and the Air Force Academy (D 305); Office of General Services (GS), the Department of Justice (J), including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (J 1.14), Office of Personnel Management (PM), Office of Management and Budget (PREX 2), Customs Service (T 17) Coast Guard (TD 5), and the Selective Service System (Y 3.SE). Types of publications selected: Monographs, periodicals, statistical publications, handbooks, directories.